A Tribute

January 4, 2013

Good Morning,

I apologize for being absent over the last week but sadly, my Nana unexpectedly passed away last Friday while I was still in New Brunswick. Thankfully, I hadn’t flown back to Toronto yet and was able to be there for the funeral. Today I want to give you a little sense of my who my Nana was. I will keep it brief, because knowing how humble Nana was she would hate being the center of attention or the subject of too much praise.

My Nana was a lovely, kind-hearted, and selfless person. Pretty amazing traits to have in a grandmother I would say. She rarely thought of herself first and always gave to others without question. She lived in the small community of Plaster Rock, New Brunswick for all of her adult life and gave a tremendous amount of time to the community. She made the best baked goods and shared them with everyone. Her creamy delicious fudge was famous in the community, so much so that when the Minister mentioned it in the funeral service someone in the back row shouted out “Amen!”.

But I think, above all, her legacy will be her creative talents. She was a master at all types of needlework; knitting, crocheting and quilting. She made hundreds of beautiful quilts, crocheted more table runners and place-mats than I can count, and my whole family (and probably a large number of people in the village of Plaster Rock) has at least a few pairs of her warm knit socks. As you may recall, back in April I posted this post called Family Heirloom. It was about the crocheted blanket that Nana made using the squares started by her mother.

And she gave it to me. This is one of the best gifts I have ever received, and now that she is gone I will cherish it even more. And I take comfort knowing her spirit will live on in the beautiful things she made and she leaves behind.